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"New Blood, Part VI of VI: Coming Out": Mia Dearden goes to her high school where she addresses the student body on the subject of HIV/AIDS. She tells the assembly that she is HIV positive and gives them an inspirational speech about living with this diagnosis. From o

Quote1 Oliver Queen... I'm doing this whether you want me to or not... I'm telling you... this is the life I'm choosing. I want to fight by your side. Please... let me do it at your side. Quote2
Mia Dearden

Green Arrow (Volume 3) #45 is an issue of the series Green Arrow (Volume 3) with a cover date of February, 2005. It was published on December 8, 2004.

Synopsis for "New Blood, Part VI of VI: Coming Out"

Mia Dearden goes to her high school where she addresses the student body on the subject of HIV/AIDS. She tells the assembly that she is HIV positive and gives them an inspirational speech about living with this diagnosis. From outside the school gymnasium, Ollie and Connor discuss Mia's performance. Connor is very proud of her, but Ollie is upset. He is having difficulty coping with Mia's illness.

To let off steam, Ollie dons his gear and raids the apartment of crime boss Danny "Brick" Brickwell. He challenges Brick to a fight and the two begin trading blows. Green Arrow sinks several shafts into Brick's body, but the super-durable villain barely even feels them. Brick begins slapping Ollie across the face, nearly beating him senseless. As a last ditch effort to win the fight, Ollie withdraws a Glue Bomb arrow and fires it into Brick's mouth. Brick falls to the floor unable to breathe. With the villain defeated, Ollie sprays him with a chemical that dissolves the glue and reminds Brickwell of just who it is that just defeated him.

That night, Ollie returns home where Mia is waiting for him. Mia knows about his fight with Brick, and feels that Ollie only attacked him as a means of coping with his own helplessness with regards to Mia's illness. Having come to terms with living with HIV, Mia is ready for the next major change in her life. She puts on a yellow and red costume and tells Ollie that she is to be his new partner - Speedy. Queen is strongly opposed to this decision, but Mia convinces him that she needs this in her life in order to maintain her focus. Reluctantly, Ollie accepts her as the new Speedy.

Appearing in "New Blood, Part VI of VI: Coming Out"

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Notes

  • This is the first issue featuring Mia Dearden in the guise of Speedy. Speedy was once Roy Harper's code name back when he operated as Green Arrow's teen partner.
  • Reference is made to the Penguin in this issue.

Trivia

  • Although obscured, the name of Mia's high school appears to be O'Neal High. This is likely a re-spelling of Dennis O'Neil, who wrote a healthy portion of Ollie's adventures during the "Hard Traveling Heroes" era of the Green Lantern/Green Arrow series.
  • Mia's speech to her school was directly inspired by writer Judd Winick's real life best friend, Pedro Zamora. [1]


See Also

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